Instead of ranting and raving at the inevitable — and yes, I include the media in this — the public have come to regard the football side in the same way we view so many other perennial disappointments of this nation’s daily life, like the weather, public transport, daytime TV and Nick Clegg.

We put up with it. We make do. We tell ourselves, ‘mustn’t  grumble’, join the queue and wait patiently in line for the only  cashier on duty.

It seems England has acknowledged it’s fine to keep the face paint to a minimum and leave the Jubilee bunting in the garage until the Olympics.

As far as the country is concerned, this Euro 2012 tournament is the sporting equivalent of a Bank Holiday washout, where people sit on the beach in the freezing rain, eating their ice cream cone under an umbrella. Yes, it is grim, but there is still a bloody-minded determination to extract some small delight from the ordeal, even if it is through chattering, gritted teeth.

In light of this prevailing mood, there should be no problem with the fact that most of the media believe Roy Hodgson’s side don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of success either.

Yet a constant moan is heard that England’s chances are  somehow being undermined by reports suggesting — and you may need to sit down before you read this — the team aren’t particularly scintillating right now.

Broadcasters and Football Association suits are running around saying how we ‘must be positive’, as if Noel Edmonds’ cosmic  ordering baloney will somehow propel Hodgson to the European crown.

Why? It is not unpatriotic to remind everyone Hodgson is taking a depleted squad into a major championship after minimal preparation. Or that he has stupidly landed himself with an unpleasant subplot involving Rio Ferdinand and John Terry.

No matter what the FA ostriches think, it is not the media’s role to stand on the touchline waving little flags to ‘get behind the team’. Asking questions is the job.

And Hodgson has still not dealt with his ludicrous assertion that Ferdinand was left out of Euro 2012 for ‘football reasons’. Nor has the presence of obvious passengers in the squad like Martin Kelly or Jordan Henderson been accounted for.

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